Caitlin Clark passes Kelsey Plum, sets NCAA all-time scoring record

The chase is over. Caitlin Clark is officially in a class of her own.

The Iowa star entered Thursday’s game against Michigan needing eight points to move past Washington great Kelsey Plum on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list, sitting at 3,520 career points after a 31-point showing against Nebraska. Just two minutes in, she eclipsed that total, taking sole possession of the No. 1 spot with the most points in NCAA women’s basketball history with a three-pointer from the logo.

By coming eight points short last time out, Clark had the chance to surpass Plum at home, and the Carver-Hawkeye Arena faithful gave her a resounding ovation to celebrate her achievement.

Baller. pic.twitter.com/AIVz5E5AnB https://t.co/GplgvPw41K

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) February 16, 2024

Clark moved up to No. 2 all-time when Iowa cruised past Northwestern on Jan. 31. She dropped 35 points in the game to move past Jackie Stiles and Kelsey Mitchell and sat just behind Plum, who stars for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and recently voiced her support for Clark as she neared the record.

The scoring record has been one of the biggest headlines in college sports this month, and it became a big draw for TV networks. FOX broke its women’s college basketball viewership record twice this month as fans tuned in to see if Clark would break the record, including Iowa’s last game against Nebraska. Both FOX and Peacock also debut a “Caitlin Cam” to follow Clark throughout games.

But when asked if the achievement was a distraction after the loss to the Cornhuskers, Clark said her focus was simply on winning games.

“It’s not really on the front of my mind right now. I think just getting better and getting back home and playing in front of our fans and executing the way we know we can execute, I think, is very important for this team,” Clark said.

“We’ll have two practices to get ready for that. Obviously, it’ll be special, but I think the biggest focus right now is just finding ways to grow, finding ways to get better, because another case of us blowing another lead. That’s something that has to stop.”

It’s been quite the year both on and off the court for Clark. She’s in the midst of the best year of her career, averaging a career-best 32.2 points along with 6.9 rebounds and 8.2 assists. Her scoring and assist averages both rank first in the country, and she is widely viewed as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Off the court, though, Clark is one of the highest-profile women’s basketball players in the country with 1.1 million social media followers, including 126,000 on TikTok. She holds an On3 NIL Valuation of $818,000, which puts her at No. 39 in the On3 NIL 100 – the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation. She also sits at No. 4 in the On3 College Women’s Basketball NIL Rank.